


love is always in style

by BlackCats



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Flirting, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Mostly Fluff, Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 15:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9498338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackCats/pseuds/BlackCats
Summary: If fashion and all of its odds and ends didn't cheer Coco up, Velvet hadn't the faintest idea what would.(Velvet, Coco, and a quick, feel-good side trip.)





	

Velvet’s long ears flicked at the sound of a sigh. The feather-light noise found its way to her from around and through the racks of clothing separating her from her teammate, and it certainly wasn’t the usual longing or impressed sigh that she was expecting.

“…Coco?”

To hear something so forlorn from _Coco_ of all people, in a _clothing store_ of all places, set off more warning bells than a Grimm attack.

Poking her head around an elaborate arrangement of purses on display, Velvet scanned the fixtures of tank tops and fedoras and nine-hundred-round-Dust-powered-clip-on-holsters until she found the familiar figure of her leader and dear friend. Coco failed to react to her name, leaving Velvet little choice but to approach her and place a friendly hand on her shoulder.

“Co—?”

Coco _jumped_. Actually _jumped_ , to the point where Velvet hopped a bit in shock herself—just _who_ was the rabbit Faunus here? Sympathy flooded Velvet’s gaze immediately once she glimpsed the widened eyes of her companion behind those ever-present shades.

“Velvet,” Coco sighed, her grip slackening on the leather wallet dangerously close to slipping from her fingers.

“Coco, are you all right? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry, it’s just…”

Casting around, Velvet took in the sight of the bustling boutique scarcely three miles from the Vytal Festival Tournament. It was _bursting_ with Vale fashion. The air was thick with expensive perfumes and all the deep, rich scents associated with coffee and its like thanks to the café on the second floor. It was a paradise for the fashionably conscious!

“…This is so undeniably _you_ , I almost can’t believe you’re not leading me around the store so you can try on everything.” A pause. “Or trying to coax _me_ into trying something on,” she added with a smile.

Velvet really didn’t feel like she was anywhere near Coco’s level of deadly beauty (honestly, who _was_ _?_ ) but that was neither here nor there at the moment.

Sighing again, Coco stared at the wallet in her hands before placing it back among its equally expensive fellows. “It’s that obvious, huh? Sorry, Velv, I’m not trying to worry you. I just keep thinking about what happened at the tournament. I really lost my cool back there....”

Ah. She’d suspected this. Team CFVY’s vicious defeat at the hands of Mercury and Emerald was still a _very_ fresh wound, after all. Yatsu had expressed a similar feeling to her just an hour ago; a rarity from the great swordsman.

“It’s all right, Coco,” Velvet said, squeezing Coco’s shoulder. “Nobody’s perfect. I really don’t think I would have fared any better—Fox said the same thing.”

“What, that you wouldn’t have won either?” Coco quipped teasingly.

Velvet let out a gentle laugh. “Yes, that’s what he said. But _please_ don’t let this shake you, Coco. You’re _still_ our leader and I _still_ believe in you. One loss won’t change any of that.”

She wasn’t able to make out Coco’s expression very well thanks to the angle of her sunglasses, so Velvet was sure to add:

“I _promise_. I know the others feel the same way.”

Placing her hand on her hip, Coco shifted her stance, tilting her shades down with one finger in order to let Velvet see the warmth in her eyes quite clearly.

“Thanks, Velvet. That’s exactly what I needed to hear.” Pushing her shades up again, she folded her arms, a faint scowl on her lips. “I know what the fight footage says, but I _know_ I saw Yatsu in the woods. I don’t think I lost my cool so badly that I started hallucinating my teammates.”

She seemed quite adamant on this. Retracting her hand from Coco’s shoulder—she realized with some embarrassment that it’d been there for a while—Velvet replied carefully, “It could be a Semblance? An illusionary Semblance?”

“…That’d make sense,” Coco murmured, thoughtful, her gaze sliding away from Velvet and into the distance, out the window, somewhere far away from the boutique. “…Or _maybe_ I’m just being a sore loser.”

The light, teasing confidence returned to Coco’s voice with that remark, prompting a relieved smile from Velvet.

“Well, it’s in the past. And _speaking_ of the past…we walked past the stairs to the café on the way here. Why don’t I treat you to a drink, for helping me out?”

“O-Oh no, Coco, you don’t have to do th—“

“C’mon, I insist. You’re too nice for your own good sometimes, Velvet.”

Coco’s gentle ribbing eventually won out, and she steered the flustered Faunus up the spiral staircase and onto the second story of the building. Solid, earthy colors dominated the décor, with a television screen affixed right beneath the menu showing a recap of the matches so far on a news program. Velvet winced, wondering if maybe they should vacate the area before it showed any footage of Coco’s and Yatsu’s defeat, but Coco seemed to be paying it no mind. She was surveying the items for sale, and Velvet couldn’t help but admire how swiftly she bounced back.

_That’s Coco for you._

Coco’s tastes had ever been expensive. Velvet’s reluctant acceptance of her offer to treat her withered the instant she saw just how _steep_ the prices were for something as simple as a latte. She opened her mouth, all prepared to argue her point—thesis statement, body paragraphs, intro, and outro—only to find herself suddenly silenced by a finger against her lips.

The edges of Coco’s eyes danced, glimpsed peeking from behind her designer shades. Coco regarded her sideways, her attention otherwise on the menu.

“I said I’d treat you, Velv. Let it go.”

The blush burning her cheeks made it difficult to remember how words worked. Her tongue pressed stupidly against the back of her teeth, her mouth refusing to open so long as Coco’s finger remained.

Coco finally pulled her finger away once Velvet nodded in resignation, only to press that selfsame finger to her own lips in a thoughtful gesture. The way she continued to look at Velvet as she did so made it clear it was _not_ an absent action.

(She was _dying_. Her face was so _red_.)

“So I know what I’m ordering,” Coco remarked, casual. “What about you?”

…She…hadn’t the foggiest idea. Velvet looked at the menu, and then at Coco, and then at the clearly entertained barista—they were next in line and she still had no _idea_ —before saying the first thing that came to mind.

“I-I’ll have what you’re having.”

Coco smirked. “Good taste.”

It turned out that Coco wasn’t having her usual elaborately ordered beverage. Instead it was something simple, a chocolate mocha that was sweet-but-not- _too_ -sweet in just the way Velvet liked it; and, it occurred to her as they sat down and she took the first sip of it that Coco had probably planned that from the start, knowing just what she’d say when faced with pressure.

The thought that Coco knew her so well was both embarrassing and…

Velvet smiled, dropping her gaze as she tightened her hold on the ceramic mug the drinks came in. Coco sipped her own as she sat across from her in the booth, amusement clear in her answering smile.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s almost like it was made just for me,” Velvet said, a chuckle in every word.

Lacing her fingers together, Coco rested her chin on her hands. “You’re not exactly difficult to please, Velv.”

“Is that…bad?”

“Pfft, of course not. It doesn’t take a lot to make you happy, which means you should be happy all the time. Pretty good way to live, if you ask me.”

It was the way she said it. The way she looked at her as she said _“you should be happy all the time”_. There’d been something about the way her voice softened at the edges, about the way her shades couldn’t hide the warmth lingering in her eyes. Velvet grew shy beneath such a loving gaze—it probably wasn’t what she thought it was.

Probably.

“Well, you know…” Velvet shifted in her seat, steadfastly ignoring the television screen in favor of scoping the area for any interesting weaponry. Mostly civilian types were around, but she recognized more than a few students from all corners visiting from the festival. “I just do what I can.”

“That’s really all we _can_ do, and I won’t ask for any more than that.”

When Velvet nodded her agreement, Coco echoed the gesture before leaning forward, as though sharing a secret.

“You know what comes next.”

It wasn’t a question.

But really? She _didn’t_ know.

“What comes next?” Velvet replied, trying to figure out just what the other girl was referring to from a list of topics.

“We’re going to go back downstairs, we’re going to shop until we drop, and _then_ we’re going to ambush Fox and Yatsu so they’ll try on the new accessories I’m going to buy for them. Because you _know_ I’m not about to leave the hottest fashion place in Vale without a few souvenirs.”

Velvet laughed, pleased to see Coco’s good cheer had returned. “I guess I don’t really have much of a choice! But, Coco?”

Coco arched an eyebrow.

“You have to let me pick something out for you too.”

“Hey, no problem. I’d be _honored_ to wear anything you got me.” Tilting her shades down to show a wink, Coco added, “except for Gatalin, because that brand is _atrocious_ , nine times out of ten. Don’t listen to what anyone else says.”

They continued to chat as they sipped their drinks, and Velvet wasn’t so certain that it was the mocha making her chest feel warm.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a bit rusty so sorry for any errors! Also, this is an entirely new pairing for me to write but one I'm quite fond of, so hopefully I managed to do them justice. <3  
> Originally a drabble but like usual I dragged it on a bit too long.


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